Srinivasan petitions SC for permission to continue as BCCI President

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI): Cement baron N Srinivasan, the shunted president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Tuesday pleaded before the Supreme Court to reconsider its interim order keeping him away from the affairs of the Board, and said he would like to resume office till the end of his term in September.

The Supreme Court had asked Srinivasan to stay away from the BCCI so that he cannot interfere into investigations of spot fixing at the Indian Premier League against his son in law Gurunath Meiyappan.

Srinivasan narrated the sequences of events that led the apex court to ask him to discontinue functioning as BCCI president, and contended that senior counsel for the Bihar cricket body had made “unfair and unsubstantiated allegations” against him.

On Wednesday, the Court will hear the matter when it will take up the plea of BCCI seeking transcripts of audio tapes containing statements of Srinivasan and Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, recorded by the Mudgal Committee which probed allegations of IPL betting and spot fixing.

In an affidavit, Srinivasan claimed that he never interfered with disciplinary proceedings or criminal investigations against his son-in-law, who is one of the accused in IPL spot fixing.

Srinivasan, Chairman of India Cements and also owner of IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings, said he never made any offer to step aside as the Board President and a proposal in this regard was given by the BCCI on March 27.

Further, he countered the charge of suspended IPS officer G Sampath Kumar, who initially probed the betting and spot fixing, of influencing the investigation.

He also said the report of the Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee concluded that his statement that Meiyappan was a ”mere cricket enthusiast” was incorrect and he (Meiyappan) was the “public face” of CSK.

“In these circumstances, I would respectfully submit that there is absolutely no reason why I should not be permitted to resume my office as elected President of BCCI unless and until this court conclusively finds material suggesting that I had interfered with investigations by CB-CID and/or compromised the tenure of Sampath Kumar in service.

“I have never interfered with any part of the disciplinary proceedings or the criminal investigation into my son-in-law and I unconditionally undertake that I will continue to do so in the event this court directs any such proceedings,” Srinivasan said in the affidavit.